Art Deco, sometimes referred to as Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture and design that first appeared in France just before World War I. It influenced the design of buildings, furniture, jewelry, fashion, cars, cinemas, trains, ocean liners, and everyday objects such as radios and vacuum cleaners.
Full Answer
What is Art Deco?
To a great extent, Art Deco is epitomized by the works that were shown at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (International Exhibition of Modern and Industrial Decorative Arts), held in Paris in 1925.
When did Art Deco emerge in France?
But nowhere did Art Deco emerge more coherently than in France. The style moderne, as it became known in France during its development in the 1910s and 1920s, reached its zenith at the great Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, held in Paris in the summer of 1925.
What are the characteristics of Art Deco France?
After World War I, exports of clothing and fabrics became one of the most important currency earners of France. Late Art Deco wallpaper and textiles sometimes featured stylized industrial scenes, cityscapes, locomotives and other modern themes, as well as stylized female figures, metallic colors and geometric designs.
What are the characteristics of French Art Deco?
The characteristic features of Art Deco reflect admiration for the modernity of the machine and for the inherent design qualities of machine-made objects—e.g., relative simplicity, planarity, symmetry, and unvaried repetition of elements.
What is French Deco?
Art Deco, sometimes referred to as Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture and design that first appeared in France just before World War I. It influenced the design of buildings, furniture, jewelry, fashion, cars, cinemas, trains, ocean liners, and everyday objects such as radios and vacuum cleaners.
What is the concept of Art Deco?
Art Deco, similar to Art Nouveau, is a modern art style that attempts to infuse functional objects with artistic touches. This movement is different from the fine arts (painting and sculpture) where the art object has no practical purpose or use beyond providing interesting viewing.
What are characteristics of the Art Deco period?
The Art Deco period was characterized by harmonious, clean, geometric, sleek, usually uncomplicated, and visually pleasing artworks. The style's main visual features derived from repetitive use of linear shapes that frequently included triangular, trapezoidal, zigzag, and chevron-patterned forms.
What colors are used in Art Deco?
The colors of the art deco period are striking and bold. Colors are often paired or punctuated with high-shine silver, chrome, or black accents. Favorite colors of the era include bright and deep yellows, reds, greens, blues, and pinks.
Is Eiffel Tower an Art Deco?
Located within an Art Deco style architecture reminiscent of Art Nouveau, the capital city features stunning Gothic and Art Deco buildings. The Eiffel Tower has earned its reputation as a symbol of French heritage.
What is Art Deco best known for?
Art Deco is primarily defined by its eclectic choice of styles. The Ballets Russes as the first international performing company which featured stage and costume designs by the prominent artists was for a long time one of the main sources of inspiration for Art Deco designers.
Why is Art Deco so popular?
The bold, structured style of Art Deco design is captivating and nostalgic. The simple, clean geometric shapes offer a streamlined look that people love to work in their homes. Additionally, some designers are attributing today's political climate as a reason for Art Deco's resurgence.
What is modern Art Deco?
Art Deco is a distinctive style that was popular in the 1920s and 30s. It's distinguished by geometric shapes and opulent finishes that ooze luxury. Today, modern Art Deco style can be an effective way to create a dynamic interior with a hint of glamour, that nods to the past without looking dated.
How did Art Deco influence society?
Art Deco influenced the design of buildings, furniture, jewelry, fashion, cars, movie theatres, trains, ocean liners, and everyday objects such as radios and vacuum cleaners.
What is French style furniture?
Features typically associated with French Provincial furniture include cabriole legs, and simple scalloped carving. Dining chairs often have a wheat pattern carving reflecting the country surroundings of the maker. The ladder back chair with a woven rush seat is the typical French Provincial dining chair.
What's the difference between French country and farmhouse style?
"French country embodies a soft, airy, feminine, and refined elegance," Richardson says. "Farmhouse embodies a cleaner look, more defined lines, and has a more casual style." Hello, subway tile and shiplap all day, every day.
What is French farmhouse style?
This style often features soft and muted colors, natural materials like raw wood and stone, plaster walls, wooden beams and floral and botanical motifs. A French farmhouse plays upon the contrast of dramatic details like carefully crafted dining room tables or exquisite chandeliers against a rustic farmhouse setting.
What is the difference between shabby chic and French country?
Shabby chic furniture is more geometrical in shape. Square and rectangle shaped tables, beds and cupboards. Shabby chic furniture is more fashion oriented; meanwhile the French furniture has a conventional and classic appeal.
What is Art Deco?
Art Deco is a popular design style of the 1920s and ’30s characterized especially by sleek geometric or stylized forms and by the use of man-made m...
When was the Art Deco era?
Characteristics of the Art Deco style originated in France in the mid-to-late 1910s, came to maturation during the Exposition Internationale des Ar...
What are the main characteristics of the Art Deco style?
The characteristic features of Art Deco reflect admiration for the modernity of the machine and for the inherent design qualities of machine-made o...
What was Art Deco influenced by?
Among the formative influences on Art Deco were Art Nouveau, the Bauhaus, Cubism, and Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. Practitioners of Art Deco a...
What is the difference between Art Deco and Art Nouveau?
Like Art Deco, Art Nouveau is an ornamental style applied to such media as architecture, interior design, jewelry, and illustration. Both styles we...
What Is Art Deco?
Sometimes referred to as simply “Deco”, Art Deco was an art style that was characterized by vivid colors and daring geometry that led to extremely...
What Is Art Deco?
Art Deco, which emerged onto the art scene in the early 1920s, was an art style defined by its fascination with modernity. This idea could be seen...
What Are the Main Characteristics of the Art Deco Style?
The main characteristic of the Art Deco style was its pure admiration for the concept of modernity, as well as its respect for the advancement of m...
What Are Some of the Most Iconic Art Deco Pieces Made?
Art Deco architecture has proven to be the most significant genre of the style, as it has produced some of the most well-known modern buildings to...
What is Art Deco design?
Art Deco design represented modernism turned into fashion. Its products included both individually crafted luxury items and mass-produced wares, but, in either case, the intention was to create a sleek and anti-traditional elegance that symbolized wealth and sophistication.
When did Art Deco start?
Art Deco, also called style moderne, movement in the decorative arts and architecture that originated in the 1920s and developed into a major style in western Europe and the United States during the 1930s.
What is Art Deco in the 21st century?
Into the 21st century Art Deco continued to be a source of inspiration in such areas as decorative art, fashion, and jewelry design . The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn, Managing Editor, Reference Content.
What are the characteristics of Art Deco?
Though Art Deco objects were rarely mass-produced, the characteristic features of the style reflected admiration for the modernity of the machine and for the inherent design qualities of machine-made objects (e.g., relative simplicity , planarity, symmetry, and unvaried repetition of elements). Among the formative influences on Art Deco were Art ...
What is Art Nouveau?
Like Art Deco, Art Nouveau is an ornamental style applied to such media as architecture, interior design, jewelry, and illustration. Both styles were popular in Europe and the United States, but Art Nouveau flourished earlier, between 1890 and 1910; Art Deco reached its height in the late 1920s and early ’30s. ...
What is the most popular pattern in Art Deco?
One of Art Deco’s popular patterns was stylized sunrays. See it on the steel spire of the Chrysler Building.
What was Art Nouveau characterized by?
Art Nouveau emphasized nature, and objects were characterized especially by asymmetrical sinuous lines, often taking the form of flower stalks and buds, vine tendrils, insect wings, and other delicate natural objects. Art Deco, on the other hand, celebrated the modern machine and promoted geometric lines and sleek forms. Art Nouveau.
What is art deco?
Country. Global. Art Deco, sometimes referred to as Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture and design that first appeared in France just before World War I. Art Deco influenced the design of buildings, furniture, jewelry, fashion, cars, movie theatres, trains, ocean liners, and everyday objects such as radios and vacuum cleaners.
When was Art Deco invented?
The term arts décoratifs had been invented in 1875, giving the designers of furniture, textiles, and other decoration official status.
What was the art deco style of the 1930s?
In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, Art Deco became more subdued. New materials arrived, including chrome plating, stainless steel, and plastic. A sleeker form of the style, called Streamline Moderne, appeared in the 1930s; it featured curving forms and smooth, polished surfaces. Art Deco is one of the first truly international styles, but its dominance ended with the beginning of World War II and the rise of the strictly functional and unadorned styles of modern architecture and the International Style of architecture that followed.
What was the Art Deco style of the Chrysler Building?
The Chrysler Building and other skyscrapers of New York City built during the 1920s and 1930s are monuments of the Art Deco style. In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, Art Deco became more subdued.
What are the influences of Art Deco?
From its outset, Art Deco was influenced by the bold geometric forms of Cubism and the Vienna Secession; the bright colors of Fauvism and of the Ballets Russes; the updated craftsmanship of the furniture of the eras of Louis Philippe I and Louis XVI; and the exotic styles of China and Japan, India, Persia, ancient Egypt and Maya art. It featured rare and expensive materials, such as ebony and ivory, and exquisite craftsmanship. The Chrysler Building and other skyscrapers of New York City built during the 1920s and 1930s are monuments of the Art Deco style.
Where did Art Deco get its name?
Naming. Art Deco took its name, short for arts décoratifs, from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes held in Paris in 1925, though the diverse styles that characterize Art Deco had already appeared in Paris and Brussels before World War I .
What was the first international style of architecture?
Art Deco is one of the first truly international styles, but its dominance ended with the beginning of World War II and the rise of the strictly functional and unadorned styles of modern architecture and the International Style of architecture that followed.
What Is Art Deco?
Sometimes referred to as simply “Deco”, Art Deco was an art style that was characterized by vivid colors and daring geometry that led to extremely luxurious and detailed artworks. As a visual arts style that incorporated both elements of architecture and design, Art Deco first appeared in France just before the start of World War One.
A History of the Art Deco Movement
Towards the end of the 19 th century, many French artists, architects, and designers who were instrumental in the development of Art Nouveau noticed that the movement had become very outdated.
An Appropriate Art Deco Definition
When talking about a suitable Art Deco definition, the fact that it was one of the most influential and decorative styles from the beginning of the 20 th century is usually included in the interpretation.
Different Forms of Art Deco Art
The Art Deco period was characterized by harmonious, clean, geometric, sleek, usually uncomplicated, and visually pleasing artworks. The style’s main visual features derived from repetitive use of linear shapes that frequently included triangular, trapezoidal, zigzag, and chevron-patterned forms.
Key Accomplishments of Art Deco
As a modern style of creation, Art Deco attempted to blend functional objects with artistic touches. This is one of the aspects that made Art Deco so different from other fine art styles like painting and sculpture, as artworks had no other real purpose or use beyond functioning as something intriguing for viewers to look at.
Late Art Deco
By 1925, two completely different and contending schools coexisted within the Art Deco movement. These schools were made up of the traditionalists and the modernists.
Notable Art Deco Artists
Many artists participated in the Art Deco movement, ranging from painters, sculptors, interior designers, furniture makers, and architects. Below, we will be taking a look at several notable creatives who created significant artworks within the Art Deco period and whose influence is still discussed today.
Where did Art Deco originate?
Art Deco may have been a coherent international style or movement, but it is intimately associated with France, where it was best groomed and refined into the style that we are so familiar with today. Nowhere else was there such an investment of skills, time and money into both the development and promotion of this intensely glamorous style. And so the strangely short-lived story of French Art Deco is at the very heart of the Art Deco narrative in general.
What is the book French Art Deco about?
Jared Goss’s beautifully illustrated book ‘French Art Deco’ provides an introduction to the historical background of the Art Deco movement and outlines the most salient aspects of the aesthetic. The book is also a jaw droppingly beautiful catalogue featuring over one hundred masterpieces, created by forty-five artists, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s renowned collection; an exceptional collection that was put together in the 1920s by the trailblazing Joseph Breck, the Met’s curator of decorative arts, who established the first museum gallery for modern design. Each chapter focuses on a specific designer, and includes a biography and discussions of the objects, enlivened by generous quotes from contemporary writings.
What was the impact of Diaghilev's Ballet Russes on the French Art Deco movement?
In particular Diaghilev’s clever uniformity of branding of posters, costumes and sets was to have a significant impact on the incipient French Art Deco movement. Added to this were the French government’s urging of industry to use the richly varied raw materials like ivory and shagreen that were made available from far flung French colonies.
Why was Art Deco so popular?
Ironically the very features – ornament and rich materials – that had been the cause of Art Deco’s popularity, were also to also be the cause of its undoing. At first the hardships brought about by the Great Depression had rendered all that decadent opulence to appear somewhat irrelevant. Meanwhile an alternative aesthetic was emerging at the vanguard of design, one that was completely shorn of ornament and historical precedent, favoured by the rising International Style modernists (e.g. Le Corbusier and the German Bauhaus).
What was the significance of the 1925 exhibition of decorative arts?
This fateful event effectively meant that the social, intellectual and artistic changes that were accelerated by the war , enabled the decorative arts to mature and even peak into a distinctive stylistic unity by 1925. So a fortuitous dovetailing of accident and design helped kick-start an influential stylistic movement that remains popular to this day.
What is Art Deco art?
Art Deco, similar to Art Nouveau, is a modern art style that attempts to infuse functional objects with artistic touches. This movement is different from the fine arts (painting and sculpture) where the art object has no practical purpose or use beyond providing interesting viewing.
Where did Art Deco come from?
The Art Deco style originated in Paris, but has influenced architecture and culture as a whole. Art Deco works are symmetrical, geometric, streamlined, often simple, and pleasing to the eye. This style is in contrast to avant-garde art of the period, which challenged everyday viewers to find meaning and beauty in what were often unapologetically ...
What is Lalique known for?
Lalique was a French designer known for his glass art, perfume bottles, vases, jewelry, chandeliers, and clocks which he produced first in the Art Nouveau and then in the Art Deco style. The use of glass, a fragile and brittle material, increases the object's status as a rare and decadent purchase.
What is the art nouveau movement?
Art Nouveau was a movement that swept through the decorative arts and architecture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries . Generating enthusiasts throughout Europe, it was aimed at modernizing design and escaping the eclectic historical styles that had previously been popular.
What was Art Deco's pursuit of beauty in all aspects of life?
Art Deco's pursuit of beauty in all aspects of life was directly reflective of the relative newness and mass usage of machine-age technology rather than traditional crafting methods to produce many objects. The Bauhaus school was also interested in industrial production, but in a sense The Bauhaus is the polar opposite as it refrained from artistic embellishments - preferring clean and simple geometric forms.
What is Lalique's sculpture called?
Lalique's sculpture nearly shouts "Art Deco, " so exemplary is it of the style that had by 1930, become the American aesthetic par excellence. Spanning many media and even functions, the style was stamped on everything from luxury ocean liners and racing cars, to toasters and toilets.
What color is the bird in the aperitif?
In this poster, a stylized, monochrome bird is perched behind a small glass of honey-colored liqueur. Though representational, both images are simplified in a manner similar to Cubist deconstruction and reconstruction: objects are broken down into basic, overlapping geometric shapes. The artist relies on a limited palette of black, gray, and a narrow range of cool colors contrasted with warm ones - the royal blue of the text juxtaposed with the inviting amber hue of the aperitif - to create a harmonious coexistence between elements in this piece.
French Art Deco Tapestry
French Art Deco stool with original upholstery on solid walnut 4 legs.
French Art Deco Chandelier
A French Art Deco calamander and maple two-door cabinet in the manner of Leleu.
French Art Deco Rug
French Art Deco cerused oak desk with glass and bronze handles. Front opening for chair measures 14.5 inches wide.
French Art Deco Vitrine
French Art Deco lamp with frosted geometric round glass base (signed MULLER).
French Art Deco Lamp
A Classic French Art Deco wooden carved console in green patina. Polygonal top shape in predominately geometric motifs with fine carving details. The console features a beautiful mat...
French Art Deco Console
1930s French Art Deco chrome chandelier Amber Murano tree glass shades.
French Art Deco Chandelier
A wonderful 1930 French Art Deco four-light dark aged brass fixture with crystal bobeches, Rewired.
Overview
Origins
The emergence of Art Deco was closely connected with the rise in status of decorative artists, who until late in the 19th century were considered simply as artisans. The term arts décoratifs had been invented in 1875, giving the designers of furniture, textiles, and other decoration official status. The Société des artistes décorateurs (Society of Decorative Artists), or SAD, was founded i…
Etymology
Art Deco took its name, short for arts décoratifs, from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes held in Paris in 1925, though the diverse styles that characterised it had already appeared in Paris and Brussels before World War I.
Arts décoratifs was first used in France in 1858 in the Bulletin de la Société française de photographie. In 1868, the Le Figaro newspaper used the term objets d'art décoratifs for objects f…
Influences
• The exoticism of the Ballets Russes had a strong influence on early Deco. A drawing of the dancer Vaslav Nijinsky by Paris fashion artist Georges Barbier (1913)
• Illustration by Georges Barbier of a gown by Paquin (1914). Stylised floral designs and bright colours were a feature of early Art Deco.
• Lobby of 450 Sutter Street, San Francisco, California, by Timothy Pflueger (1929), inspired by ancient Maya art
Style of luxury and modernity
• The boudoir of fashion designer Jeanne Lanvin (1922–25) now in the Museum of Decorative Arts, Paris, France
• Bath of Jeanne Lanvin, of Sienna marble, with decoration of carved stucco and bronze (1922–25)
• An Art Deco study by the Paris design firm of Alavoine, now in the Brooklyn Museum, New York City, N.Y. (1928–30)
International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts (1925)
• Postcard of the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris, France (1925)
• Entrance to the 1925 Exposition from Place de la Concorde by Pierre Patout
• Polish pavilion (1925)
Skyscrapers
• The American Radiator Building, New York City, N.Y., by Raymond Hood (1924)
• Chrysler Building, New York City, by William Van Alen (1930)
• New York City's skyline (c. 1931–33)
Late Art Deco
• Lincoln Theater in Miami Beach, Florida, by Thomas W. Lamb (1936)
• The Palais de Chaillot by Louis-Hippolyte Boileau, Jacques Carlu and Léon Azéma from the 1937 Paris International Exposition
• Stairway of the Economic and Social Council in Paris, originally the Museum of Public Works, built for the 1937 Paris International Exposition, by Auguste Perret (1937)